Gym Ops Radio

On this episode we discuss what the difference is between your brand and your company (operations). We go over why it’s so important to have a brand, what it says about you, and the benefits that strong brand communication will bring your gym.

Today, we discuss the four ways that we communicate with membership and why three of them are 100% automated. We talk all about why you should never shy from creating automated processes, and why in reality it will actually lead to more personal communication, improved conversion, longer client retention, and even more former clients returning to your business. 

Today, we discuss the 7 most important interview questions you should be asking, why they are so important, and the alternative version of them to avoid. We’ll set you up with the ability to get better answers, set people up to be a better fit for your culture, and save time by making fewer hiring mistakes.

Now more than ever, brand attraction and trust matter. Here are six easy ways to create more interest in your brand right away.

1. Invest in good imagery.
2. Go minimalist in your brand communication. Short and to the point.
3. Always have a clear call to action.
4. Make sure your COVID plan in person is in line with what you promise.
5. Treat members and prospects exceptionally.
6. Be visibly relatable.

The guys will talk specifics on how to get better imagery that is more emotionally appealing to prospects, why a ton of fluff on your website is a bad move, why you need a very clear and easy method to experience your gym for the first time, why disconnect with your COVID experience from what you promise can immediately kill trust, a reminder why member care matters, and the importance of creating and maintaining a daily "voice" for your brand.

LINKS:

Our COVID-19 member communication and safety plan

Our CALL TO ACTION example

Our daily blog aka "voice"

Simon Sinek's "Start With Why"

Data Point #1: Active Membership by Location

• Why it’s important to differentiate between total membership, active membership, and paid membership to create an accurate financial forecast. 
• SCENARIO 1: Active membership goes down, total membership remains the same (OKAY)
• SCENARIO 2: Active membership goes down, total membership goes down (PROBLEM)
• Why per location matters?
• Each one has unique selling points, is there a service failure at one but not the others?
• It helps to keep focused on the macro, ie. “we’re okay”

LISTENER TAKE AWAY: Start calculating your weekly and monthly holds percentage, can you identify intrinsic or extrinsic forces that cause a positive or negative swing?

Data Point #2: Micro Attendance Metrics

• Average class size + total visits in a month. Each one per location and as a company following the same concept of macro vs. micro. Both are important. 
• Many scenarios throughout this:
• ALL OUTDOORS, HALF INDOORS, ALL INDOORS. So we’ve needed to know exactly who is going where and why. 
• Emergency Scenarios: Adjust programming

LISTENER TAKE AWAY: Start tracking and see where correlation arises, then use it to forecast when/if it happens again. 

Data Point #3: Front End Interest (ie Leads)

• Total number of names each week into our membership waitlist is indicative of two things.
• 1. How we are doing as a company in our service offerings (referrals)
• 2. How much trepidation does the marketplace have with COVID (state of industry)
• Conversion is important but it’s not the whole story, for example conversion is garbage right now because of the holidays and COVID, but interest is still there which means emotionally people are still very interested. 

LISTENER TAKE AWAY: What metrics do you have in place to measure interest?

Data Point #4: Avg. Membership Value

• Basic equation that tells you how much revenue you’re generating in each class, used to go hand in hand with data point #2.
• Why it matters especially in COVID, less people are able to come to the gym each day.
• For example, right now we have a problem. Our AMV is the same, yet our class capacity is cut by 40% which means our revenue opportunity is reduced by 40%.
• Prices have to go up with capacity going from a surplus to a premium. 
• 18 x $113 = $2,034 per class 
• 12 x $113 = $1,356 per class
• = $678 less per class
• That’s 1-2 jobs
• Very similar to the revenue per table in the restaurant industry that’s so crucial to support operations. 
• If we can get our AMV up over time, then it means we don’t need to rely on capacity, so knowing it is absolutely non-negotiable. 

LISTENER TAKE AWAY: How can you increase your AMV without compromising experience?

Why We’re Back

• Gym industry is getting zero support, 0.4% yet we’re closed, we need information out there to help gyms rebuild. Not coming at this from a position of expertise, more “here’s what we’re doing, here’s how it’s going.” No one knows shit right now. 
• Idea is for you to perhaps consider 1-2 things we say each episode, not mirror our entire operation. 

Intro

A brief recap of financials from March to now. We’ll avoid the weeds here and instead focus on the end game numbers.

• March 1: 904 active
• June 1: 625 active (-32%)
• Nov 1: 782 (-14%)
• Dec 1: 765 (-16%) mostly seasonal 

What we did: rent equipment, moved online, home workouts, etc. Same thing we all did as an industry.

PIVOT #1: A garage gym in every station

Everyone did zones, we did mini gyms planted in them. More about experience than safety. We wanted people to come in and not only feel safe, but feel upgraded.

• 49 squat racks, sets of rings, boosted inventory of free weights.
• Emphasis on safety and distancing. Didn’t hide behind it, we broadcasted it.
• Downside: Major loss of availability, class waitlists, loss of potential revenue
• 225 daily spots to 153 per location (in a full schedule). Down 32%
• We’ve trying to use it as a strength → more hands on coaching, personal connection, and from a business perspective we’ve owned it and turned it into a membership waitlist to drive scarcity.

TAKE AWAY: How can you not just be safe, but improve the experience that’s on brand for you?

PIVOT #2: Narrow Service Offerings

We paused all specialty classes, badly attended classes, open gym, nutrition coaching and everything else that wasn’t “Come to class and get fit.” 

• Do more with less, no convoluted messaging. All for one, one for all mentality. Addition by subtraction. 
• Absolute clarity to our marketplace on what we offer and we can communicate unquestioned competence in that. 
• Talk about why multiple offerings right now would convolute things: paradox of choice, increased staff tasks.

Result is a membership all on the exact same page, who want to be here, and will help you rebuild. No passive aggressive resentment. Huge if anyone wants to have a successful culture after all this.

TAKE AWAY: Where does addition by subtraction exist for you? What superfluous service are you still providing?

PIVOT #3: Being in an Open Relationship with Old Ways

• Use some old, create some new. If you look at pre COVID expectations, you’ll chase the wrong rabbit.
• Old acquisition, churn, attendance, projections, etc. 
• Be ready to add or do things you previously were against: ie. closed our Crown Point location, offered Remote Training, Price Increases
• If your training style is pigeon-holed, I think it may be tough for you, ie. powerlifting gym, CrossFit traditionalist, etc. who rely on strict and specific tools and layout.

TAKE AWAY: What about your offering is inflexible? Can it be made flexible?

 In All Of It -- Direct Communication 

• Consistent place for members to find what’s going on.
• Full honesty, no pulling punches or spins. No sugar coating if it was an answer people didn’t want to hear.
• Allowed problem members to leave without fighting for them. Rather than passive language stringing them along…”This is not coming back right now.”

The crazy thing is, I think we both...